Sylvie still wears the black uniform of the Panorama du Pyla campsite. A habit for one who has worked “every day”, for nearly nine years, in this establishment located at the entrance to the Arcachon basin, at the foot of the Dune du Pilat. From now on, there is no longer any question of getting up in the early morning to take care of customers. The place was destroyed in a few hours by the fire raging in the forest of La Teste-de-Buch (Gironde) since July 12. The same fate was reserved to four other campsites of the commune, located in this artificial pine forest, planted at the edge of the ocean.
With her 17-year-old daughter Noémie, Sylvie went feverishly to the police rallying point, the Hippodrome de La Teste-de-Buch, Wednesday, July 20, seeking information. When will the reconstruction work of the campsite begin? Who will lead them? What about insurance? And is there still a future at the foot of this dune? They tell of the emptiness that settles after the destruction of a campsite synonymous with so many memories.
“I started working at the Panorama du Pyla in October 2013, but the first time we went there was in July 2010”, remembers the mother of the family, her eyes misty. Noémie, then 8 years old, discovered “camping spirit”, at the instigation of his mother: “I wanted her to make friends and beautiful memories.” But the little girl is car sick, which limits travel for the holidays. The Panorama du Pyla, located 20 km from Teich (Gironde), where they live, will do just fine. “VSwe liked it. We went back there every year, until I got hired” within the team of ten employees, she says, crossing the emotional gaze of her daughter.
At the Panorama du Pyla, this sporty-looking forty-year-old was in charge of the maintenance of the premises until last week. “Installing the mobile homes, replacing a light bulb, managing the unexpected. By force, I knew every centimeter of it. I am imbued with this campsite.”
All those hours spent in the 4-star establishment allow the family to recognize the 15 hectare camp “at first glance’, despite the damage caused by the flames. “You see this pool, or what’s left of it, this was where I used to work”explains Noémie, presenting a photo of the charred places on her smartphone. “Now I’m bored.”
The teenager had been hired for her first season, four days before being evacuated by the police, like tourists, on the night of July 12 to 13. That night, the two women slept in their official caravan, which they occupied during the high season to facilitate the work and avoid going back and forth.
The mother and daughter did the accounts: between Sylvie’s personal tools, household appliances bought at her expense and the teenager’s surfboard, they lost 6,350 euros in business in their temporary accommodation. But the financial damage is of little importance to the forty-year-old, who above all regrets her life before. “We don’t work anymore, we go around in circles, I feel like a lion in a cage, she breathes, her throat tight. I lost everything in the fire. My work, my daily life…”
Since the disaster, this dynamic employee has had an urge to make herself useful, as she was by managing the details of the campsite’s stewardship.
“I want to get out there to start clearing and rebuilding, fast.”
But the area, still in the smoke, is closed to traffic. “I need to get my job back”adds the one who does not see herself, for the moment, knocking on the door of another campsite, so as not to “to betray” the first.
In this event, she can count on the support of certain customers, who are also impatient to return, one day, to the Panorama du Pyla. There is in particular this couple of Austrian regulars, who took care to send him a few messages. “I communicate with them through translation sites. They’re sorry they can’t be there this year. They’ve been coming every summer for twenty-six years. It’s hard for them too”regrets Sylvie, who still hopes to be able to find them next season. “We will do everything for.”